The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-05-06
- 4ALPIg@9gEE9g1E, @ y. ~, -aIs5 80 addI-
PERSONAL AND PECULIAR.


An Amesbury, Mass, man last summer sent
to Australia yacht which easily defeats
everything in those waters. The Sydney news
papers give generous praise to the speed and
seaworthiness Of the Yankee boat.
Congressman S. S. Cox has almost wholly
recovered his health. Mr. Cox had a very
narrow escape from death during his recent
illness. A strong constitution and careful
nursing. however. pulled him through. Be
fore long he VIII leave Washington for some
quiet place in the suburbs elssm-.ty.
In Ohio, In 1879. there were five thoasazsf
unmarked soldiers graves. Vegewwsny Of
these are still unmarked, and are gradually
becoming lost. There is a movement to have
the State take charge OF them, see that they
are appropriately marked and are decorat-
ed httingly every Memorial Day.
The friends Of the late President Arthur
have without any public parade raised a
large sum Of money to build memorials to
him; and a stone sarcophagus is to be placed
above his grave in the Albany Rural ceme-
terry, while life size bronze statue on a
grand pedestal will be erected In one Of the
New YORK city squares.
A very simple test to ascertain whether
the air Of any apartment contains sewer gas
Is made by saturating unglazed paper with
solution Of one ounce Of pure lead acetate in
half pint Of rainwater; let It partially dry,
then expose In the suspected air. The pres
ence OF sewer gas In any considerable quant-
~ soon darkens or blackens the test paper.
DR.. Holmes says that when he was in Eng
land he insisted upon measuring some large
elms to compare them with Boston elms.
About sixteen feet around the trunk Is the
measurement Of Boston Common elm, and
from 20 to % feet Is the ordinary maximum OF
the largest trees. He found an elm In the
grounds Of Magdalen College which meas
20 feet and six inches.
When Queen Victoria Of England was
crowned fifty years ago, Richard Rothwell Of
Dover, N. H., was u member Of military
band that played all day long at the scene Of
the coronation exercises. The fiftieth ami
versary of the Queens coronation Is near at
hand and Mr.. Rothwen will leave for Eng
land IN a fow days 70 participate in the jubl-
lee. Only four Of the band that Mr.. Roth
well played In survive. This quartette will
have a reunion on the coronation day.
One of the first things Queen Victoria did
on hearing that William Nv. was dead, and
that she had succeeded to the throne was to
| call one Of her mothers ladies-in-waiting.
sam really Queen?" asked the excited
| Princess. you are indeed. madame" re-
piled the lady-in-waiting, 'And / can do
what choose by rightp" continued Victo-
ria. Certainly, your Majesty" Then get
| me cup Of green tea; mamma never would
| let me have IL, now mean TO know what
| harm 1t can do me-" And the young Queen
/ drank three cups, had a violent ht OF the
| shivers, and has never liked tea since.
The approximate breadth Of a river, or 9TH
er stream, may be determined by means Of the
brim Of hat or the visor Of cap, ard this
can be done by boy as well as man. The
person desiring to ascertain this fact must
place himself at the edge Of one bank Of the
river and lower the brim Of his hat, or visor
Of his cap, till he finds the edge just cuts the
other bank; then after placing the hand un-
der the chin, he must turn round steadily TIL
he faces some level ground on his own side
OF the river and observe when the edge Of
the visor again meets the ground. The meas
ure OF this distance viii be very nearly the
breadth Of the river.
1t is said that when Alexander Mitchell
was banker in Milwaukee there was once
run on his bank. On the second day OF the
run an old Scotchman entered the bank, COW
cred with mud, and carrying pair Of sad
die bags. He could not gain access to Mr..
Mitchell ON account Of the crowd. but he
shouted out to him, holding up the saddle
bags "Aleck, mon, heard ye hod a room
on yer bank, and bring ye all have, mon
$4,000 in gold" The crowd contemplated
the old Scotchman for a moment and then
began to drop out Of the line, and In less
than an hour the run had ceased.
jay Gould travels like rocket while in
specting his roads. In this way he gets a
certain amount of exercise, for, as travellers
know, heavy train drawn at the rate Of
fifty miles an hour will make little fuss In
comparison with the antics Of a single car
tackled TO an engine making the same rate
Mr. Gould often travels at ffty-mile gait.
and during such trip he has been known to
change seats-from one side Of the car to the
other-not Of his own volition, but without
changing countenance. He changed engi-
neers on one Of his recent trips without
knowing 1t. The engineer had been running
slowly, for reasons Of his own, In spite Of
numerous pulls at the bell cord. When, how
ever, he discovered that dinner was under
way he pulled the throttle open, and the To-
eomotiye darted ahead suddenly as II going
through space. The jar cleaned the table
like dash. AT the next station the engi-
neer was promoted to freight train.
From an old almanac Of 1870 1t appears
that George Washington was a very exten-
siye farmer. These are the operations with
which he Is credited Gen. Washington
possesses 10000 acres Of land In one body.
where he lives; constantly employs 24o
hands; keeps % ploughs going all the year.
when the weather win permit, sOwed in
l7Sl COCO bushels Of oats, 700 acres Of wheat,
and prepared as much eorn, barley :potatoes,
Deans, peas ETC.; has near 500 acres in grass,
and sowed $50 with turnips. Stock-l4o
horses, 1l2 cows, 235 working oxen, hsifers
and steers, and 500 sheep. The lands about
ms seat are all laid down in grass; the farms
are scattered around at the distance Of tive,
tnree, four or five miles, which the general
/ visits every day unless the weather Is apso-
lutely stormy. He Is constantly making va
rlous and extensive experiments for the i'm.
\ proVement OF agriculture. He Is stimulated
Win that desire which always actuates him
tosdo good to mankind. In 1876 he KILLED
100 hogs weighing 1880 pounds, for nj,
family use, exclusive Of provision for nj,
Y negroes, which was made into bacon.